


Adjustment Period

by Magical_Persona



Series: Elementary Sides [3]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Children, Alternate Universe - Human
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-22
Updated: 2020-10-22
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:15:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,231
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27150295
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Magical_Persona/pseuds/Magical_Persona
Summary: Moving is a daunting experience for anyone, but when Janus finally moves in with his new family there's a bit of an adjustment period.
Series: Elementary Sides [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1974352
Comments: 5
Kudos: 17





	Adjustment Period

Janus had been off all day. From the inability to focus in class, to nearly missing his seat when he sat down at lunch, and even the itching at his eye far more than usual. Logan was quick to pick up on patterns, he loved them, he loved them even more when they were patterns he was used to. Seeing Janus like this was unsettling.

“Janus, is everything alright?” Logan asked when they sat down to wait for the buses at the end of the day.

It was just the two of them. Patton and Virgil got picked up and Roman and Remus lived close enough to walk home with their dad. Despite the mostly empty gym Janus looked around before nodding.

He didn’t always like talking to Logan. Logan was even better at spotting a lie than Remus and… Janus couldn’t explain how it made him feel, but he knew he didn’t like it. He felt like nothing was his to have. He had to share everything with his little group, but this...this wasn’t something they could fix. Or anyone could stop. It just was.

Maybe Janus didn’t like being at the house with all the other kids, but at least he knew what to expect. There he knew keeping your head down and putting the blame on the kids the adults already hated was the easiest way to get by. The Problem Kids the adults always called them. The kids who would be gone for a week and then come back even more angry with the world. Or the ones like Janus who would bounce from home to home and town to town because no one wanted to deal with them.

But at new houses...at  _ real _ houses he never knew what to expect. One time he accidentally broke something and there was so much shouting and he was gone. Any friends he might have made gone too. Then the time he should have just kept his mouth shut. He shouldn’t have said anything. He shouldn’t have asked about the two men holding hands. Shouldn’t have said he thought it was nice. Everything was always so confusing.

“I just want to go home,” Janus managed after a while. It wasn’t exactly a lie, but judging by Logan’s scrunched up nose the other knew it wasn’t the truth either.

“I miss my dad,” Janus whispered, hoping more information would satisfy Logan’s curiosity. “I want to go home to  _ my _ bed and play with  _ my _ toys. I want to be able to hug  _ my _ parents again and…” he shook his head.

“I don’t know what you’re going through,” Logan’s voice was slow, like he was searching his brain for the right words. “But, I know that if you keep trying to replace what you’ve lost you won’t be happy. And I think if you only try to find replacements you won’t ever be happy. Maybe you could try,” he mumbled something to himself that sounded something like ‘what would papa say’ before he looked back up at Janus more confidently. “Maybe instead of replacing them you keep all the happy memories and try to make more with your new family.”

Janus’ jaw nearly hit the floor, but he recovered quickly, eyes narrowing. “I never told you that.”

“You didn’t have to,” Logan’s voice rose slightly as he realized some backpedaling and explanations were in order. “My dad knows some people who work at places like the one where you live.”

Logan also knew how much his dad hated those places and the way the kids there were often treated, but that was a different point altogether.

“So you guessed.”

“I made a… hypothesis and followed the questions to an answer,” Logan replied, rather proud of himself for using a word they’d just learned in class the other day.

“What makes you think you’re right?” Janus snapped despite knowing full well Logan had all the answers.

This wasn’t Remus or Patton. It wasn’t someone Janus could lead off topic with a few well placed questions or phrases. Logan was too sharp for that and he already knew he was right. Janus had basically told him that already.

Logan tilted his head for a moment, those deep night sky blues peering into Janus’ green eye. “I’m confused...you just told me…” the realization dawned on him as his voice trailed off. “You lie a lot.”

From anyone else it would have been an accusation. It would have been followed by an ‘I hate you’ or ‘you’re a bad person.’ From Logan it was just as simple as an observation. As if he could have been talking about the clouds in the sky. Janus wasn’t sure which hurt worse. It made his skin prickle and the hair on the back of his neck stand up. He imagined this was what a snake felt like right before it struck.

“Are you going to tell me how awful I am? How I’m going to end up in prison because I’m useless? Or are you going to tell me I’ll hurt Patton and I wouldn’t be his friend if I really cared about him?”

Logan jerked back at the venom in Janus’ voice. He’d never heard Janus hiss before, if Logan hadn’t been friends with Virgil he wouldn’t have even considered it a sound people could make. Then he was just sad. Someone had said those things. Someone had said those things to  _ his _ friend. It was in that moment another emotion clicked. One Patton talked about quite a bit.  _ Protectiveness _ .

Sure Logan understood being protective. It wasn’t the first time he’d felt it, but in this moment he imagined this was how Patton felt when someone threw things at Logan just to see what he’d do. Or when they would pick on Virgil so badly he would burst into tears and hide in his hoodie the rest of the day. It was similar to when Roman chased a kid down at the playground and hit him so hard it knocked a tooth out because the kid had pushed Remus off the playset and broken his arm last year. Logan was certain the strong, overwhelming feeling welling in his heart was the same thing a momma bear felt when her babies were in danger.

“You are not any of those things,” Logan’s voice was firm, something he’d learned from his dad. “You don’t bring Patton down. He’s your friend, he  _ wants  _ to be your friend and it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks. I know he likes being your friend and he’d be very sad if you weren’t friends anymore.”

Logan lowered his voice to something far more conspiratory. “Between you and me, Patton can bring himself down all on his own. He doesn’t need anyone’s help.”

That earned a giggle out of Janus and just before Janus’ bus was called.

“I’ll see you Monday,” Janus said with a small wave as he grabbed his plain black backpack.

“It’s a three day weekend!” Logan called back.

Janus could only nod. The last time this had happened he hadn’t come back. He’d been forced into a completely different school and he’d never been able to see the  _ one _ friend he made again. He’d lost a friend for the promise of a family who never loved him to begin with. And it was all going to happen again.

**Author's Note:**

> I have no idea how adoptions work so were just gonna gloss over that part.


End file.
